Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Waverton Good Read Award, 2008
What readers are saying:
‘Loved it!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘My favourite book’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘One of the most wonderful books I have ever read’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Stunningly funny’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the story of Dr Alfred Jones, a fisheries scientist – for whom diary-notable events include the acquisition of a new electric toothbrush and getting his article on caddis fly larvae published in ‘Trout and Salmon’ – who finds himself reluctantly involved in a project to bring salmon fishing to the Highlands of the Yemen – a project that will change his life, and the course of British political history for ever.
With a wickedly wonderful cast of characters – including a visionary Sheikh, a weasely spin doctor, Fred’s devilish wife and a few thousand transplanted salmon – SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN is a novel about hypocrisy and bureaucracy, dreams and deniability, and the transforming power of faith and love.
‘Warmly recommended to anyone searching for feelgood comedy with surprising bite’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
‘I really loved this book’ Bill Nighy
‘Loved it!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘My favourite book’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘One of the most wonderful books I have ever read’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Stunningly funny’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the story of Dr Alfred Jones, a fisheries scientist – for whom diary-notable events include the acquisition of a new electric toothbrush and getting his article on caddis fly larvae published in ‘Trout and Salmon’ – who finds himself reluctantly involved in a project to bring salmon fishing to the Highlands of the Yemen – a project that will change his life, and the course of British political history for ever.
With a wickedly wonderful cast of characters – including a visionary Sheikh, a weasely spin doctor, Fred’s devilish wife and a few thousand transplanted salmon – SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN is a novel about hypocrisy and bureaucracy, dreams and deniability, and the transforming power of faith and love.
‘Warmly recommended to anyone searching for feelgood comedy with surprising bite’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
‘I really loved this book’ Bill Nighy
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Reviews
A delightfully funny debut...It's funny, ambitious, multi-layered and quirkily imaginative, yet still - especially in the case of a sub-plot featuring a deniable British raid inside Iran - frighteningly relevant
The political bite of Torday's novel is more savage than the 'feel good' film. The narrative is crisp and clever, its denouement explosive.
Wonderful...really funny...a book you can't put down easily. Torday has an easy command of the gripping twists that play readers through the streams of a story, and at the same time he's a master of character...a tour de force
A most diverting debut - ingenious, witty and moving, Yes Minister meets Monarch of the Glen
An amusing satire on the tensions between the West and the Middle East, and a commentary on the value of belief to mankind...The success of the book lies in the charm of Mr Torday's storyline - his love of salmon fishing shines through his text - and his skill at portraying the petty officialdom and manipulativeness of modern government. Adding breadth is a sharply drawn cast of characters
Paul Torday's debut novel is about an impossibility...And the remarkable thing is that a book about so deeply serious a matter can make you laugh, all the way to a last twist that's as sudden and shocking as a barbed hook...As with all good comedy, there's a tragic underside...And there is satire...To write a novel lampooning the looking-glass world of Blairite government must have given Torday as much gruesome fun as he gives his readers...Salmon Fishing is extraordinary indeed, and a triumph.
A wonderful book - a cry for humanity in our target-driven spin-riddled world
It's hilarious and so well observed
At last an Evelyn Waugh for the 21st century. Paul Torday is funny, humane, poignant and one of the most original writers in the UK today. SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN reinvigorated my already abiding love of contemporary fiction and I am grateful to Mr Torday for it. I urge each and every one of you to buy this book and then sit on the nearest seat to the till and read it
A wickedly comic first novel about the power of money and the miracle of faith
A tender hearted book...thoroughly enjoyable
This is a wonderful, enjoyable read...Written in a highly accessible pastiche of memos, letters, interview excerpts, journal entries and emails, Fishing, encompasses everything from the science of salmon spawning to the war in Iraq. But all these elements merely give structure to the story: a lovely musing on how risking it all - however much it may be perceived as foolish or ridiculous, can bring hope and faith and love to the most bleak of outlooks
I really loved this book
SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN is an entertaining and successful debut...it is warmly recommended to anyone searching for feelgood comedy with surprising bite
Entertaining storytelling with great characters and laugh-out-loud plot
A clever, original and funny novel...A magical debut
It is light, but succeeds in an ambitious project: making a book about fishing readable, even touching. Fish may not be your bag, but it is the capacity for commitment and belief that makes for good reading